Boy, 9, aims to become youngest amputee to complete Three Peaks challenge

7 hours ago

Sarah EasedaleBBC Wales

News image — Albie-Junior was just four when he first conquered Yr Wyddfa at his dad's side

Daniel Thomas A four-year-old boy wearing a red coat, blue snood, orange hat and black gloves, is pictured at the summit of a mountain alongside a man in an orange coat and black hat, with a short brown beard. The boy is being held up on to the trig pillar by a person in a black coat whose face can't be seen. Both the boy and the man are smiling. It is misty and snowy in the background and there is snow on the boy's gloves and hat. — Albie-Junior was just four when he first conquered Yr Wyddfa at his dad's side

A nine-year-old boy who became the youngest amputee to climb Wales' highest peak now has his sights set on conquering the Three Peaks challenge.

Albie-Junior Thomas, from Holywell in Flintshire, was born without a fibula in his left leg and had his foot removed at 15-months-old.

Regardless, at the age of four he broke records by scaling Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon.

The youngster now hopes to climb the tallest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales in less than 24 hours to raise money for Holywell Town FC.

Daniel Thomas A man in his 40s with short dark hair and a short dark beard and wearing a blue waterproof coat stands at the summit of the mountain Yr Wyddfa with his arm around a boy of 9 who is wearing a black coat and black trousers, he also has a prosthetic leg on the left side. Both are wearing rucksacks and the boy is giving a thumbs up to the camera. The sky behind is a mix of blue and cloud and the mountains are visible stretching into the distance. — Albie-Junior and his dad Daniel are training by climbing up Yr Wyddfa most weekends

He has already climbed each one individually alongside his dad Daniel Thomas and the pair have embarked on an 18-week training programme in preparation for the challenge on 18 August.

"We're training a lot, we go to [Yr Wyddfa] every week and we go to the gym," Albie-Junior said.

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The father-son duo has also done a night time ascent of Yr Wyddfa to practise finding their way in the dark.

"We went about [midnight] to see where we were with navigation as that's kind of roughly the time we'll be hitting Snowdon," said Daniel, a fitness trainer.

"Each week we're beating our time as well, to try and just push ourselves."

A boy stands on a residential street in the sunshine with two cream coloured houses in the background and a large bush behind a brown fence. He is smiling at the camera and wearing a grey and yellow patterned sports top and grey shorts. He has a prosthetic blade on his left leg and on his right he is wearing a blue and white trainer. — Albie-Junior says to him his blade is just like a normal foot

The pair will begin the challenge by climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland before being driven to Scafell Pike in Cumbria and then Yr Wyddfa in north Wales.

Each mountain trek will be powered by noodles and Albie-Junior's favourite sour sweets.

The schoolboy said it would be "quite unusual" to become the youngest amputee to complete the challenge and added he was proud of himself for signing up.

Some of his friends have also told him they had been inspired by his achievements.

Albie-Junior added: "One of them went up when they were six and they were really proud of themselves and they were sat there [saying], 'how does he do it when he was four?'"

Daniel Thomas A picture of a young boy with a prosthetic limb on the left side on a mountain path in the dark. The image is taken from behind. He is wearing a navy padded coat and a black hat and the way in front of him is lit by a head torch that he is wearing. He is also carrying a navy rucksack. — Albie-Junior and his dad have carried out night time training to test their navigation abilities in the dark

Albie-Junior was born with fibular hemimelia, which meant his leg was 5cm (2ins) shorter than the other and his foot was deformed.

His dad said it was a "massive decision" to amputate but having a prosthetic had never held his son back as he learned to walk on a blade.

"It just felt like a normal foot," said Albie-Junior.

A picture of a mum and dad on a sunny street with cream semi-detached houses in the background. The man, with dark hair and a short dark brown beard is wearing jeans and a white t-shirt, and is holding a newborn baby and the woman, who has dark hair tied up, is standing behind two children, a boy and a girl, with her hands on their shoulders. The boy has a prosthetic leg and is wearing shorts and a t-shirt and the girl, who has long brown hair and glasses, is wearing a school polo shirt, cardigan and shorts. — Albie with dad Daniel Thomas, mum Rachel Kyrki, sister Sienna and new baby brother Roman-Lee

However, gruelling downhill sections of mountain hikes can cause discomfort to the skin where the prosthetic attaches and pressure on the knee.

It means Albie-Junior, who wants to become a paralympian in future, will be checked over between each stage and will need crucial rests in between each climb.

His dad said the task felt like a natural progression for his son.

"You just have to go one better, don't you? We've done all three, we're just topping up each time," he said.